Consequences
by Indigo98
Summary: This story takes place after season 3, after the fall of Beacon. After no luck in finding Cinder, RNJR finds Ruby's old friend Artemis who suggests taking a break by going to a concert. When the concert is over, the city is suddenly attacked by Grimm. What will RNJR face this time? Who else is going turn up? Will the past come back? (Prequel: Ruby's past. Doesn't have to be read.)
1. Chapter 1

Crashing sounds could be heard from Beacon's dining hall as she skipped through the wreckage. There, in the midst of fallen rocks and bodies was a faunas, standing there, seething with anger. The girl jumped on his back, resting her arms on his shoulder. "So you're the one that's giving off all that anger! What happened? Cat got your tongue?" another surge of anger burst out of him.

And it thrilled the girl.

"Shouldn't you be off feeding somewhere else?" He replied to her, trying to keep his anger under control.

She shook her head. "No, no. Mass fear and depression is all well and good, but you," she laughed, "You're never ending." She swat some ash out of his red hair.

She adored the color red.

"It's about time we leave anyways." he took a final glance at his surroundings before leaving.

The girl continued to ride on his back. "Have you had your fill?" He asked in a business like tone. It didn't hurt the girl's feelings in anyway. She knew he only saw her as a Grimm with a voice. And she only saw him as entertainment and food. "Yeah. I did. But when will we move on with the phases?" she said excitedly. She wanted more terror, more lost. More catastrophe. Today was thrilling. Unlike the other times they sent her to kill, this time was different.

This time they sent her on a spree.

"There is no _we._ " he said roughly. She rolled her eyes. She knew that he didn't like her or the group of humans she was with. They were humans and he was a faunas. Apparently there was a difference. "Yeah, yeah. Okay but when is the next _phase_?" she pleaded.

"Whenever preparations are finished. Just like last time." she groaned as she rested on his back, letting the sway of his walk lull her.

"Are you going to kill her?" she asked, yawning at the end of her question.

"What does that matter to you Grimm?" She smiled as she wrapped both arms around him. _Human bodies are high maintenance._ "It doesn't matter really. I just want more food." She was sure that if he didn't have his mask, he would've rolled his eyes.

"Of course there's going to be violence. That's all humanity is good for." The girl, whose eyelids were growing heavier and heavier said, "Whatever. Just don't drop me."

And let her eyelids close over her fire colored eyes.

* * *

"I think the trail's gone cold Jaune. Again." Nora said as they entered a tavern named Grimm Nights.

Ruby pulled back her hood and looked at the tired, blonde headed boy she's been traveling with. It's been 3 months and they weren't any closer to finding Cinder. Ren sighed. "Maybe we should rest a bit. We've been going after these leads over and over…" it was true. They've encountered Mercury and Emerald about 2 times and both times they got away. It wasn't going well.

"Yeah...let's rest up. I'll go get a room. You guys go ahead and get a table." Ruby nodded towards Ren and Nora giving them the go ahead. "Jaune, we'll find her. We just need to have faith." she put a hand on his shoulder. He gave her half a smile. "Yeah. I know. Thanks." Ruby shrugged. "It's what I do." They approached the front and confronted the man behind the counter about two rooms.

"Should we just go ahead and do some jobs while we're here?" Jaune asked Ruby as the man went to get their key. Apparently rooms with more than one bed were taken except for the attic which had 4 beds.

A round of 'oooo's came from a couple of tables behind us.

Jaune lowered his head. "Why do I have a feeling that Nora's involved?"

She looked at him with a half-smile because 10/10 times, it was Nora.

There was a sudden crash that made the two of them jump. They both pushed their way forward through the crowd to see Ren going toe to toe with a brunette stranger.

 _Wait a second...don't I know her?_

"Ren! You two, what's going on?" Jaune made the final push and broke through the crowd.

The girl looked at us with her beaming red eyes. "Oh hey, you guys his friends? Great. Teach him how to be chill will ya?"

Ruby saw Ren's fist tighten. "Hey, let's just calm down here. Nora, tell me what happened." Jaune said, putting a hand on Ren's shoulder.

"It really is no big deal first of all. So I was walking, he was walking, we were walking. Then stranger here was walking towards us and she stepped on my foot. Of course I'm going to say ow. And then she kept walking on until Ren called her out for it and she was all, 'What's the big deal?' and then some words were exchanged and now I'm really hungry." Ruby moved out from behind Jaune and took a look at the girl.

She was a bit taller than Ren and had short brown hair that almost looked like a guys. Her bangs fell on the left side of her face and had a strand not quite tucked behind her right ear. She wore a long tanned sleeveless jacket with a dark green strapless dress that had three layers and with each layer the color lightened. She wore knee high boots that matched her jacket and thigh length, black colored tights. Around her waist were two belts. One had multiple pouches that were color coded, while the other seemed to hold… _silver antlers? So does that mean…_

"Artemis?" Ruby whispered softly. The red eyed girl ceased her teasing and looked at Ruby questioningly.

"Artemis?!" Ruby said more loudly.

"Holy shit, Ruby!" Her eyes widened with delight as she swirled Ruby around in a hug.

The others stood by, wondering what was happening in front of them. "Man, how have you been?! You look older now! I barely even recognized you!" Ruby beamed up at her. "Same to you! Have you been good? How are the others? What are you doing here?"

Nora then coughed into her hand and the two old friends looked at them. Ruby smacked her head. "Oh right! Sorry, um, guys, this is my friend Artemis, we went to school together." Jaune came forward with his hand out. "Hi, I never thought I'd see an old friend of Ruby's. Would you like to join us for a meal?" Artemis looked at his hand and instead of shaking it she high-fived it and gave him a fist bump.

"Don't mind if I do Mr. Bunny."

"It's...Jaune." He said, guiding her to a table.

Ruby gave Ren a pat on his back, making him go along with the team. Ren sat with Nora on one side of the table while Artemis and I sat across from them with Jaune at the head. "Artemis, this is Ren, Nora and Jaune. These are some of the friends I made at Beacon."

She leaned onto her hand and smiled at Ren and Nora. "I guess I apologize for stepping on your foot miss lightning bolt. Didn't expect your boyfriend to get so angry and for you guys to be Ruby's friends." She rustled Ruby's hair at the end of her sentence. Nora's face blushed pink before she opened her mouth to say that they weren't a thing. But Ren was ahead of her and with a hint of aggressiveness said, "We aren't together."

Artemis looked between the two and smiled in understanding. "I see, I see. Well, I really am sorry about what happened."

Ren looked at her and sighed. "Yeah...I'm sorry too."

"So I saw the tournament, and I gotta say, pretty heavy stuff. Especially with your sister Ruby. And that Penny girl...and just Vale in general. I'm sorry that had to happen to you guys." She looked at each of them in turn.

Ruby turned to her.

"Do you have time? For a long story?"

"Of course I do, you know my brother and I love stories."

So they sat there, well into the night, each person telling their part of story on the night that Beacon fell.

"Wow." Artemis breathe out when the story ended.

"So now you guys are looking for Cinder and your head master? How is that going?"

They all looked down at the table.

"So not good."

Nora sighed. "We just can't catch a break. You wouldn't happen to know where Cinder's evil base is located?"

Artemis shook her head. "Nope. Sorry." They sat there in silence until Artemis spoke up. "Listen, how about you guys take a little break? Since it seems that the trail has gone cold, why not have a little fun?"

"What do you mean by fun?" Jaune asked.

"I have access to backstage at a concert in the nearest city, why don't you guys come with me?" Ruby and Jaune looked at each other and then the other two.

"I don't know Artemis, I just. I need, _we_ need to keep looking." Jaune said, looking at his hands that were clenched together in the table. Artemis looked at the crestfallen faces of the people that were around her. "You know, I once lost a friend too. Ruby and both I both did. Hell, I even lost a brother."

Ruby looked at her suddenly, a panic look on her face. Ruby hadn't told anyone about what had happened to Bhu or Hermes and truthfully, she didn't want to go over the details.

"I didn't know her too well. But I did consider her a friend. One time she had to come over to my house for a project and both of my brothers were there and one of them fell for her that same night." Artemis giggled to herself. Ruby remembered that night. The very next day Bhu was saying that she accidentally did something bad and she didn't know how to reverse it.

Artemis continued.

"They were really dear to me. My brother was a little shit, but he always made me laugh. And Bhu was quiet, sarcastic, smart and really considerate to other people. But one day, when the town was in chaos, those two stood against a horde of Grimm." Jaune, Ren and Nora looked at Ruby, not knowing what to say.

"Ruby, is that true?" Ren asked. Ruby rubbed her arms and nodded, not wanting to look at them. She didn't like talking about it.

"They were both 13 and knew what the risks were and they did it anyways." Artemis said, taking a sip from her drink.

"They sound like heroes." Nora piped in.

"More like idiots to me. What kind of kids would be stupid enough to try and stop a horde of Grimm by themselves? With hardly any training to top it off." Artemis asked, her voice sour. She continued. "After the funerals, my younger twin brother suddenly left. No note, no words, just gone. And I realized, that they were gone. No more loud music, no more stupid pranks, no more brothers." Artemis sighed.

Ruby looked at her, not realizing just how hard it has been for Artemis.

"Anyways, the point is, I get it. If there was any chance that my little brother was still alive, I'd go to the end of the world to find him. But you know, rest is a good thing. Acting like a stupid teenager when you are one, is a good thing. Besides, you'll never know when a clue might just pop up. You should've seen my face when I finally found my twin brother."

Ruby's ears perked up. "You found Apollo? When?"

"About a year ago. Just before you got accepted into Beacon. Sorry I didn't tell you earlier Ruby, but you know how he is." Ruby nodded, a small smile on her face. She wasn't sure if Apollo would want to see her. She didn't even know if she wanted to see _him_. She tried to talk to him after Hermes' funeral but in the end he got mad and told her that everything was her fault. Then the next day he was gone.

"So how about it? You guys look like you need a break."

They all looked at Jaune. He looked at each one of their anxious faces and realized that he was tired. He was tired of everyday being a failure, tired of everyday seeming like there would be a chance to find Cinder only to come up empty. He was tired of searching. He was probably the one who wanted to find Cinder the most and there no way he was going to stop. But he was just tired. So he looked at them and released a small smile.

"Yeah. I think it's a good idea."

"Sweet. Who are we going to see?" Nora said with a yawn.

Artemis smiled. "Phoebus."

Jaune gasped. "No way!"

Artemis chuckled. "So you heard of them?"

"Who hasn't!?"

Ruby and Ren raised their hands, Nora on the other hand was fast asleep on the table.

"You guys are so uncultured. It's _Phoebus._ One of the most popular bands today! How did you get tickets?" He asked Artemis.

"Let's just say I have my connections. But it's getting pretty late. We should all go to bed, it's a full day's trip to the concert hall." She started to get up. Jaune was helping Ren put Nora on his back while Artemis pulled Ruby to the side.

"Listen Ruby, have you talked to your sister recently?" She asked her.

Ruby paled a little. She hadn't spoken to her any of her family since she left. Whenever she had the chance, she would send them postcards so that they know that she was at least okay. "Why do you ask?"

"It's just that I saw her recently and she doesn't look too good."

"Yeah, well, losing one of your two arms would put anyone in a sour mood."

"Ruby."

"I'm sorry Artemis. It's just been kind of hard lately." Ruby looked back at her team that were climbing up the stairs to their room.

"You never told them." Artemis noted.

Ruby sighed, feeling a knot in her throat. "It's not a part in my life that I want to brag about you know?"

"...you're not still blaming yourself are you?"

"Shouldn't we be going to bed? You said it yourself, it's a full day tomorrow." Ruby started towards the stairs looking at Artemis with a smile.

"...Yeah. Good night Ruby."

"Yup! Good night!" Ruby skipped up the stairs, through the door and headed straight to the bathroom. She took a good look at herself in the mirror before covering her mouth and quietly sobbed. Her mind got hit by a wrecking ball of emotions and her body was paying the price.

 _I miss you guys. I need you guys. Why'd you guys leave?_

She slowly slid down to the floor, covering her eyes, her mouth shouting out silent screams.

 _I need you guys and you left!_

 _Even Yang! Yang doesn't want to even look at me!_ Ruby remembered the tone of her older sister's voice, not wanting to have anything to do with Ruby any more. Her older sister had given up on everything. Even her.

 _Why can't I do anything! I'm older! I'm more capable now!_ Ever since the incident with Bhu and Hermes she begged her uncle to take her under his wing so that nothing like that would ever happen again.

And yet.

 _I let Pyrrha die! I let another person I care about die! What's the point of having a speed semblance if I never make it in time!?_ Ruby started to take deep breaths, feeling the beginning of a huge headache.

 _You need to calm down. There's nothing you can do about the past._ She released one more breath before standing up. After looking at herself in the mirror again, she decided to take a shower where she thought about _not_ thinking. Ruby wrapped herself in a towel and went into the room to grab her pajamas. Out of the corner of her eye she saw something move. She turned her head and look at Jaune.

"Why are you still up?" She whispered, slinging her backpack around her shoulder.

"Sorry. Can't really sleep I guess. Why are you up?"

She gestured to her towel. "I'll give you one guess."

He quickly hid his eyes behind his hands. "Right. Um. Stupid question. I'll look over here, at the wall."

Ruby didn't really get what the problem was. He's shared a room with girls before. "It's okay Jaune, I'll just change in the bathroom. No big deal." _Didn't he share a house with seven sisters? And Nora and Pyrrha?_ She thought as she walked into the bathroom again. _I guess he must see me as a sister or something if he got so startled._

After she got changed, she saw Jaune, sitting at the edge of his bed. Hearing the door close, he got up and walked towards her. "Hey, do you need a hug?" Ruby's eyebrows shot up.

"Why?"

He looked at her with worried eyes. "You've been in there for a while after you came into the room. And I could tell that you weren't really excited about the topic Artemis brought up." Ruby felt her hands beginning to tremble. He put a hand on her shoulder.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No!" She pulled away from his hand then realizing that she had spoken loudly, she looked at Ren and Nora. Thankfully they were still sound asleep. Ruby breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Ruby."

She looked at Jaune then quickly looked the other way. "I'm sorry Jaune. Anything else. I can talk about anything else. Just don't make me talk about that day." She smiled nervously at him. But he continued to look at her with a worried expression. Finally he sighed and walked to his bed.

 _I'm sorry Jaune. But I want to leave it buried. As deep as I can bury it._ As she pulled the covers over her she heard Jaune ask her something.

"What was that?"

"Her name was Bhu right? Were you two close?" Ruby clutched her pillow, a small smile on her face.

"Yeah. We were."

* * *

The next day was filled with laughter and smiles as Artemis told them about stories with her brothers and her own adventures. They were almost into the city by the time Artemis told her last story.

"Our dad thought that the whole thing was funny, but he only told Hermes to give back Apollo's cow pins. Apollo was so pissed that he wasn't punished that he didn't speak to him for like a week. So to make it up to him, Hermes gave Apollo his lyre. And my dear twin brother was so touched that he gave Hermes a little farmer figurine with a golden staff so that he can lead the herd when they play together."

"How have you managed to remember all of this in detail?" Nora asked, a smirk still on her face.

"Oh, that's easy. It was so stupid that it's been ingrained into my memory."

Artemis looked at me and smiled, "What about you and Bhu, Ruby?" She lifted an eyebrow.

"What about Bhu and Ruby, Artemis?" Ruby asked her back, matching the voice Artemis used.

She nudged Ruby with her elbow. "Oh, C'mon, there must be some wild stories about you two breaking some rules."

She thought about it hard. "Well, the only stories I have are the kinds that you had to be there for."

"What was she like? Your friend." Ren asked, suddenly speaking up.

"How did you meet her? What did she look like? What was her favorite color?"

"Nora, stop asking so many questions." Jaune told her.

"But Jaune! I need. To. Know!"

Jaune sighed and shrugged his shoulders. They all looked at her, curious about her past friend.

"She had a...difficult personality. At first."

"You two didn't get along?" Artemis asked.

Ruby shook her head.

"Sounds awfully familiar doesn't it?" Nora said, nudging Ruby.

 _Oh. I guess the same thing happened with Weiss huh._

"I guess I don't make good first impressions." Ruby laughed half-heartedly. "She really wanted nothing to do people. She hardly spoke, and when she did, it was either short and to the point or just plain mean. But after opening up to me, it turned out that she was frank, sarcastic, and confident in her fighting, loyal and a bunch of other things. She hated getting her picture taken and she hated crowds. She liked animals though, she said that if she had to hear barking she'd rather hear it from a dog."

Everyone laughed as the ground beneath them changed from dirt, to cement and Artemis started leading the way.

"She had a lot of qualities that I admired." Ruby felt her heart quiver.

 _If she hadn't died, I wonder if things would've been different._

Suddenly Ruby felt a hand on her shoulder. Jaune looked at her and said, "Wish I could've met her."

She looked at him expressionless then quickly darted her eyes away. "Sorry Jaune, but I'm sure she'd see you as some useless side character."

Jaune looked horrified while the others laughed.

"But you know, I'm sure she wouldn't hate you." Ruby said in consolation. "In fact, I'm sure she'd think that you're a really nice guy."

"If there's anything Jaune can rely on it's his kindness that's for sure!" Nora said slapping his back.

"Aw, that's not a bad thing! In fact it's quite valuable this day and age. Oh see look! That's the place where the concert is going to be held!" Artemis ran out a bit ahead of them swinging her arms wide. The stage was outside, at the bottom of a hill, with people moving things on and off the stage. People were setting up rail guards and some fans were already there, waiting to enjoy the show.

"I was expecting something more...impressive."

"Nora."

"What? Isn't this Phobia group supposed to be really famous?"

"It's Phoebus!" Jaune corrected her.

"Okay good, because phobia would be in really bad taste right now."

Artemis giggled. "It's a last minute charity concert, to help out the refugees from Vale. It's a bit hard to get the word out." They looked at the stage once more before Ruby's stomach growled. "So, uh. How long until the show?"

Artemis slapped her on the back. "Enough time to eat! Let's go! I know a killer sushi place."

* * *

"I seriously can't believe how much you can eat Nora." Artemis said, astounded. They had finished dinner and were on their way to the show.

"It amazes me every time." Ren said with a smirk.

"I'm a constant force to be reckoned with! So I need constant energy!" They laughed at her reasoning.

"But still, I can't believe I'm going to meet Phoebus! Ren! Make sure I get a picture! There's no way I'm going to let this chance go by. My sisters are going to be so jealous."

"So what kind of music do they play?" Ruby asked.

"They're like a combination of rock, pop a bit of jazz sometimes. You can't just _assign_ a genre to them."

Artemis looked impressed. "You sure are a fan aren't you Jaune?"

"Well, I wouldn't say a _fan_. But I do know every word to every song and have all their albums, posters, and a couple of t-shirts here and there."

"But by no means a fan." Ren finished for him.

"Exactly Ren. You get it." They all smiled at each other as the stage came into view.

"Okay, I need to make a call really quick so no talking so loud." She got out her scroll and pressed it against her ear.

"You know, I'm glad we're doing this. After 6 months of nothing...this is good." Jaune said to Ruby, a hand in her shoulder.

"But Jaune...what do we do after?" Ruby asked him. Of course she just wanted to relax and have fun, but what after? Are they just going to keep wandering, hoping for a clue to pop up?

"The only thing we can do. Keep trying."

Ruby smirked. She guessed that was the only thing they were good at. Artemis called back to them, "Hey guys! We're good to go! Let's start heading to the stage."

Artemis linked arms with Jaune and Ruby with Nora following her lead and hooking her own arms with Ren and Jaune. "Now let's go have a good time yeah?" Artemis asked, a smile on her face. They were greeted with huge body guards that smiled when they saw Artemis.

"Miss Artemis, looking as lively as ever." One of them said, both moving aside to let the group through the gate. "And made some new friends I see." The other man said crossing his arms.

Artemis giggled. "Always a pleasure to see you both. Is the band doing well?"

"Well, no one has died yet."

They all laughed. "So are you going to tell us who your new friends are?" The second man asked.

"Of course! This is Ruby, Jaune, Ren and Nora. Guys, this is Romulus and Remus. They're the band's muscle brothers." They both wore proud smiles when she called them that.

"Artemis, a certain someone came by asking if you were here earlier." Remus told her, a sly smile growing on his face.

"A certain someone? Who?"

Romulus soon wore the same smile his brother did. "Oh geez, I can't seem to put my finger on it. He was quite the strapping young lad wasn't he Remus?"

"Romulus I couldn't have said it better myself. Wasn't he just the kindest?"

"Why yes he was dear brother, but by golly what was his name?"

Remus crossed his arms, putting some thought into his answer. "What was it...Oreo?"

Ruby saw Artemis' body stiffen.

"No, no, it was..." Romulus snapped, "Orion!"

"THAT'S IT!" The brothers high fived each other.

"Oh, who's Orion?" Nora asked.

"NO ONE. ABSOLUTELY NO ONE." Artemis said vehemently, grabbing Jaune and Nora's arms and dragging them away. "Catch you guys later bye!" she said over her shoulder.

Ruby grinned.

"So who _is_ Orion?" she asked the two brothers.

They smiled and beckoned her and Ren to come closer.

"You see, it started about a month ago," Romulus started. "We don't know the exact details but apparently something happened between those two while Artemis was camping out in the woods."

"Ever since then, the kid would show up to every show just to steal a glance."

"Sounds complicated." Ren said.

The brothers laughed. "Yep! Love sure is complicated." Remus said.

"But we shouldn't keep you kids here. Your friends should be in that trailer over there." Romulus said, pointing at a rather large trailer at the end of all of the equipment. After waving goodbye to the twins, Ruby and Ren walked up to the trailer and knocked. Artemis answered the door with a flushed face. "C'mon, get in already."

Ruby stopped all movement as soon as she saw the deep red eyes that bore down on her. His eyes looked the same, intimidating, ambitious and confidence. He was in this weird get-up though. They weren't even clothes really. Just one long white fabric that faded to red at the bottom she couldn't help it.

She laughed. "Are those even clothes? How could your mother let you go out in public like that? Oh my gosh, I can't! H-help!" Ruby was clutching her sides. After all this time she had expected him to be in a motorcycle gang and yet here he was, dressed like it was Halloween.

Everyone had a horrified look on their face.

"And what the hell are you laughing so hard about damn ladybug?" Apollo said, grabbing her ear and pulling.

"Ow! Nooo, that's my ear! THAT'S MY EAR. I'M SORRY."

He took his hand back and glared at Ruby before he rose his hand again. Ruby, being prepared this time, covered both her ears. To her surprise, he didn't go for her ears. Instead he ruffled her hair whilst looking the other direction. "I'm glad...you're safe." He mumbled.

 _Wait. What._

She looked at him with concern. "You're not sick are you?" Ruby made a move to touch his forehead with her hand but he slapped it away.

"I'm not sick."

"Hold on, Ruby, how do you know Apollo?" Jaune asked.

Ruby cocked her head. "How do _you_ know Apollo?"

"He's the lead guitarist and singer of Phoebus Ruby!" Ruby squinted back and forth from Jaune to Apollo doubtful.

"What's with that look ladybug?" Apollo pulled her ear again.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! It hurts! Let go, let go!" When he let go, Ruby stuck her tongue out at him.

Artemis sighed from the other side of the trailer. "Honestly, you two. Come and sit down, standing while everyone else is sitting is kind of awkward." Ruby sat next to Nora while Apollo went to sit between Jaune and Artemis who was sitting on the counter.

"Got to say, I'm surprised to see that you were the friends Artemis made." Apollo said, leaning back into the seat.

"You're telling me! Artemis, how did you find him?" Ruby asked, looking at the short haired girl.

"You make it sound like I was lost." Apollo intervened before Artemis could get a word out. She gave her brother a look before smacking him upside the head.

"She was talking to _me_. Anyways, it was totally random. I was walking about, minding my own business when I saw his poster plastered on a store window! So I bought a ticket, snuck backstage and got caught by Remus and Romulus. I told them I was his sister and at first they laughed. God, I was so pissed so I tried to fight them. Let me say, it's hard to fight when you're caught in a bear hug. And then! This one," she nudged her brother, "came and was all, what's with all this ruckus?"

"I didn't say that."

"Shut up. I'm telling a story. He took one look at me and said he didn't know me." Everyone gasped and looked at Apollo who was smirking at the memory.

"So I bit Romulus' arm, grabbed Apollo by the neck, and asked them if we looked like brother and sister. That's when they finally got a clue. But Apollo was all like, don't you two work for me? Get her out."

Apollo snickered. "I'm funny."

"What _was_ funny was how I threatened you by telling mom and dad."

"...that wasn't funny."

Artemis smiled. "But it was. As soon as I said that, he froze in place, and glared at me. He knew I would do it. And that was when he finally accepted me back into his life." She reached over to ruffle his hair. But he quickly slapped her hand away.

"And that's pretty much the gist of it. So why are you guys here in the city? With Beacon down, I would assume everyone would be home." A short silence passed before Nora spoke. "We're looking...for Cinder."

To everyone's surprise, Apollo's eyebrows shot up. "Do you...know her?" Ren asked carefully as if talking about her would bring on unfortunate events.

"I've... Heard of her. Mostly whispers though."

"Bro...Should I be worried?"

"Dear God Artemis, don't."

"What do you mean whispers?" Jaune asked.

Apollo rubbed the back of his neck. "Listen, I travel a lot. Hear some things. All I know, is that there's more Grimm and more towns getting attacked. Sure, the occasional town gets attacked. But ever since Beacon fell there has been a spike in Grimm activity. Whether or not Beacon is the cause of it well, who knows?"

"So you're saying the attacks are orchestrated?" Jaune asked again.

"I'm saying, you better be prepared for what you might find. Because you won't like it."

Suddenly the door swung open, making Ruby jump a little.

"Be ready in 10." One of the crew members said quickly before closing the door again. Apollo got up and picked up his guitar that was laying against a wall in the corner. "I'm playing a new song tonight. Make sure you guys listen to it."

Without a look back, he exited the trailer. "He's very...vague." Nora said.

Artemis sighed and walked to the door mumbling something about her brother. We all looked at each other when we were left alone. "He knows something." Ren said after a period of silence.

Ruby wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to know...but. "If he does know something...we need to find out what."

She said, trying to convince herself that there had to be a reason Apollo was being so cryptic. Just then the door swung open again and Artemis popped in. "Hey you guys coming or nah? It's about to start."

We all gave each other a small smile. "We are supposed to relax aren't we? We can do that for an hour."

That hour turned into two. After one song finished, the audience would scream for more...and so would Jaune.

"Man, I _wish_ I had his voice."

Ruby smiled as the crowd and her friends cheered on her old friend. Apollo had always been good at singing. Even tried to serenade Bhu once. When he suddenly went missing, Ruby felt responsible for him too. If she had done something, maybe they'd all be together. Pushing the sad thoughts aside, she was glad to see him like this. Smiling, having fun, living in the moment. He was always scowling and seemed annoyed by everything. Still seems that way to be honest. But to see him like this, makes her feel just so relieved that he's alright.

"Okay, hold up! Hold up!" Apollo started waving his arms, signaling his band to stop and the audience to quiet down. "I need for everyone to quiet down!" He signaled someone on the side to bring him something.

As the stagehand walked out on stage with a stool and acoustic guitar a girl screamed out, "I love you Apollo!" and the cheers started up again. He chuckled and said into his mic, "I hope you can give some of that love to this new song."

The crowd let out another wave of screams. "As you all know, Beacon of Vale recently suffered from an all-out tragedy." Everyone suddenly was very quiet, as if speaking about it will bring harm to them.

"Sadly, it's because of that tragedy that we are all here together. This concert is a charity event to help the families and citizens of Beacon because when one of _our_ cities gets attacked, when _our_ people get hurt, _we_ all suffer with it." A lone whistle sounded out from the crowd as shouts of support and love started to rise out from the audience.

"This song, is for Beacon." The shouts slowly diminished as the spotlight fell on Apollo, his guitar reaching out to every heart that could stand to hear it.

Beacon:

Their eyes like fire burn through the streets

The light, I see it fading

The ground won't stop shaking

We flee from our city that's being reaped

I hear screams every time I close my eyes

I won't watch as it dies

God someone tell me this is just a nightmare

Please save me from this despair

My heart, can you hear it crying

My home, can you see it lying

My hands, can you see them shaking

My tears, won't stop falling

My beacon is dying

And there's no way to stop it

And it falls

And it falls

Into ashes and cinder

And it falls

And it falls

Into the hands of a sinner

How did this happen

How can I let this stand

All those that are sadden

We won't be damned

What do I do with these emotions inside

I can no longer hide

I'll do anything to once again see the light

It's time to rise and fight

My beacon is there

There's no way to hide it

And it will grow

And it will grow

From the ashes and cinder

And it will grow

And it will grow

To lead the way for dreamers

No longer will I run and shake

It is our beacon that cannot break

Hit me with all you've got

I will stand until you're stopped

And it is there

And it is there

You can't take it away

And it is there

And it is there

My beacon won't giveaway

For a moment, the only sounds you could hear were soft sobs and crying until clapping eventually made its way into cheers and cries of praise.

"Thank you everyone for coming out tonight, please get home safely." As he walked off the stage, the crowd started chanting his name as if thanking him. When he got to everyone, he suddenly put on a soft smirk. "Like the song you guys?"

Ruby looked at Jaune and saw that he was wiping away tears. Ruby looked at everyone else and saw that they were doing the same thing. She was about to speak up but couldn't. Her throat had tightened. She slowly reached up to her face and was shocked when she felt that her cheeks were wet. Jaune was the one that recovered first. He reached out a hand to Apollo. "Thank you. It means a lot to us."

Apollo was given a bottle of water and after taking a drink from it he shook Jaune's hand. "It's no big deal. Glad you guys liked it."

All of a sudden the ground started to shake.

Screams were resounding from all around them.

They heard what sounded like the collapse of a building.

People started to run around backstage.

Apollo caught the sight of his manager. "Pythia! What's going on?"

"Grimm! They suddenly started to attack the city!"

Ruby looked at the others and they all nodded.

"Pythia, get me my bow and arrows." Ruby turned and looked at Apollo. She had assumed he left the Hunter life to be a musician.

He smirked as he saw the shocked look on their faces. "You don't believe I got this body from a regular work out do you?"

* * *

 _Hey guys, a little authors note. This just took me forever to complete and I'm so glad I finally got it done. I started this story when season 3 ended and would you look at that, season 4 is already done. hahahahahaha, I'm dying inside holy crap. It's like I have this idea and story in my head but when it comes to writing it down...ahahaha. Anyways, I recently got a Tumblr it's not exclusively RWBY but I have been posting some of my drawings of the characters so check it out if guys want to check it out (bhu98 tumblr). Maybe I'll make one specifically about RWBY, idk we'll see how life goes._

 _Please go ahead and tell me what you guys think about the stories. Bye-bye_


	2. Chapter 2

I finally have Ch.2 done. You know, I'm still not sure if Grim is spelled with two m's or not. Anyways, sorry for the wait.

* * *

 _Damn it, damn it, damn it!_ The girl thought as she stalked the streets of her new victims. _How dare they!? A failure? Me?_

 _ **"We have a new test subject, why are we keeping the other one? The failure?" "Everything has a place." "Of course, but there will be trouble when it sees its better counterpart."**_

 _A failure?! Me!? Oh I'll show them just how much of a_ failure _I am!_ She couldn't eat like she wanted to but she'll be damned if she couldn't get her fill of terror. She still had her instincts and strength after all.

"Go on!" She commanded her kin. They were filling the streets and killing people left to right. But she felt something was off. It was then that she noticed a dust shop and smiled. Even without an aura, if handled roughly, they could still be activated.

 _This is going to be fun._

She entered the shop and grabbed one of the red crystals. She exited the shop, tossing it up in her hand before deciding that she was far enough. With a smile plastered on her face she threw the crystal as hard as she could at the building. It went up in a spectacular display of brick, flame, ice and destruction. People were screaming, fire was soon to spread and most importantly, people were scared.

She felt the air around her vibrate, revitalizing her very core. Oh how it thrilled her. It was like taking a breath of fresh air.

It gave her goosebumps.

She skipped down the streets, leaving no one alive in her wake. She killed them using a dagger that they had given her since she couldn't tear flesh with her bare hands. Something about hurting herself or making a mess or some other nonsense.

Yet.

Why should she care what they say anymore? She giggled as one human made a run for it in one of the alleys. _I think I've found where to put it_. The dagger spun in her hand as she leisurely strolled into the alley he had gone in. Unfortunately for him, it was a dead end. She peeked around the corner.

He was panicking.

She found it so amusing how he tried to scale the building only to fall. He kept trying and trying until she couldn't hold it in anymore. She laughed.

He stopped where he was which only made her laugh harder. If there was any inkling of relief from the sight of what appeared to be another human, it didn't last long enough to be sensed. She felt him trembling. He was giving off intoxicating fear that made her knees weak and her mouth drool. She stopped laughing. Stood up straight. Opened her eyes. Wiped her mouth with her thumb.

"You don't have to say anything. I know," she smiled and aimed her dagger, "you're scared."

* * *

It was Apollo's job to get rid of the Grimm that were making the most noise. He was on the rooftops, getting a better layout of which Grimm to kill first. He was doing well considering that he was still wearing his dumb costume. His manager said something about a 'godly' outfit to go along with his attitude. He complained a shit load, but she somehow managed to convince him. He ran rooftop to rooftop, flying arrows everywhere he could. He didn't have to stick around to see if he hit his mark. He knew he did. So he kept jumping, roof after roof, wishing he had a speed semblance like Ruby did.

A particularly high pitched scream caused him to stop his running and swiveled his head toward the sound. There was a Grimm, slowly stalking towards a child. Her mother, not too far off was crying, being held back by other people so that she doesn't become a victim of Grimm herself. He let loose an arrow that settled into the Grimm's neck before it exploded, severing the head from its body. He jumped down, grabbed the girl, and returned her to the arms of her mother. She ran with her child close to her chest, saying words of gratitude as she and others ran in the same direction. _Geez, don't drop your kid next time._

He was enjoying this frankly. He got to see his old friend, made some new ones, sang his heart out, people were shouting his name and now he was running through streets filled with fire and Grimm.

It was a fun night.

He wanted battle and blood, not children and crying. He sighed. He couldn't quite get into the heat of things without his regular clothes. Apollo turned and shot another arrow. "It's a show, she says," He ducked, and used an arm to go with the momentum of the claw and flipped over the Grimm, shooting its heart. "Show some freaking skin, she says," He jumped to dodge a three way attack and shot three arrows, each hitting its mark. "As if I don't take off my shirt every freaking show."

An Ursa was coming at him head on and he rolled his eyes. He shot both its eyes out with ice dust, when it howled up in pain, he shot another one in its throat. "Oh please, give me a challenge!" He wanted more, he wanted an opponent that knew more than how to roar and bite. This was why he liked sparring with other people. He heard another scream.

 _Shit!_

Before he could get there, the screaming stopped.

 _SHITSHITSHIT._

He kept running, trying to figure out how close the screaming was. Eventually he stopped, trying to ignore the pounding in his ears.

 _Wait._ He heard something else.

Something that was out place in the midst of destruction.

It was laughter.

 _Who laughs at a time like this?_ He was able to follow the laughter in some God forsaken alley. There was a girl, sitting on top of something, laughing as she kept her body moving in the same redundant motions. Apollo wasn't sure what he was looking at. He moved closer, not wanting to alert the girl of his presence.

He couldn't see very well in the alley. He was relying on his other senses more than his sight. He heard the sounds before he smelled it. It sounded like the noise he used to make with soap when he was younger and had to wash his hands and instead decided to play in the sink. He wasn't sure exactly would make that kind of noise here until he was able to smell it. It was a metallic, distinguishing smell most would recognize.

He felt like he was going to be sick.

It was one thing to kill off Grimm, they would disappear in a matter of minutes.

This.

This was horrifying.

Apollo took a small step back when he saw the girl lift her head. She stuck her nose up in the air and sniffed it.

He didn't move.

She was like a dog, catching wind of a new scent.

 _His scent._

He should leave. They guy was already dead. There was nothing he could do about that. He gripped his bow.

 _God I hate myself._ He reached, and grabbed one of his arrows, a yellow one, so that he could take her alive. As he took aim, the girl smiled at him. A smile that made Apollo really, _really_ hate himself.

"Hey, are you scared?" She asked, waving her knife in the air.

 _Shoot her._

She got up, dusting off her legs as if having blood on them were a common occurrence. "Well, since I have a live one, I won't be needing you." She said before kicking the corpse across the alley, slamming into the dead end, slowly sliding down, leaving a mess in its wake.

 _Shoot her!_ She laughed, causing chills to run down Apollo's spine.

 _Wait, my semblance. But if she can do that to a person...maybe if I scare her good enough._

He took a deep breath and his body released a dark pulse. Apollo had never liked his semblance side effect. His skin would turn into an ash gray and the white of his eyes would turn black and his hair and eyes would turn purple. How long it lasted depended on how bad he wanted to scare a person, how far they were and how many people were around. But in this case, it was totally worth it.

As soon as it touched her body she froze. He saw her shake, she hugged herself when he heard a whimper come from her throat. Before he could fire his shot, he hesitated. _Something isn't right._ And sure enough his instincts came through.

She started laughing.

She had to lean against the wall to keep herself from collapsing on the ground. "Oh my god! Was that you? That was fantastic! I might have to keep you around!" After taking a deep breath she finally turned around and faced him.

His breath caught in his throat.

It was her, the girl that had died with his brother.

The girl he once had a crush on.

The girl that now has the eyes of Grimm.

"Mmm, love the color scheme you got there. But it'd be better with a splash of red."

* * *

 _They're not stopping._

Ruby was running through the streets slashing away the Grimm. Whenever she rescued someone, she pointed them in the way of Ren and Nora who were guiding and guarding people at the safe zone. Jaune was clearing the building while Ruby got rid of the Grimm in the general vicinity. Apollo went ahead to attend more urgent matters, saving the people who needed it most.

Ruby was getting out of breath when Jaune entered another building. She went after the Grimm with no mercy, just as they were going after every person they saw. The Atlas robots were just deployed so Grimm numbers should start dwindling. It was amazing that Atlas was still able to even be allowed to _have_ robots anymore. But the world wasn't ready be _without_ Atlas' tech. The world still needed Atlas.

Although… _I still can't get used to them._ And it would take a long time until anyone would. Seeing the Grimm getting handled in the main street, Ruby headed toward the alleys. Some of them had a few wandering Grimm, but they were taken care of swiftly. As she was about to check out her last alley before going back to Jaune, a man came out running.

"Wait! Are you okay?" She called out to him. She couldn't make out the words he was saying as he ran off. He was running in the direction of the safe zone so she let him run off into the distance. Ruby heard a scream that came from the same alleyway the man ran out of. She immediately ran in and saw Apollo standing over someone unconscious.

"What the hell did you do!?" She started towards him, wanting to see if the girl was all right.

"Stop!" Apollo held out a hand.

She stopped at his sudden outburst. "Ruby please. You need to step back from this."

Ruby didn't like where this was going. His hair was disheveled, he was out of breath and his eyes bore into hers.

She started to feel uneasy. "Apollo...what happened?"

He put his hand down, and looked down at the girl before looking back up at Ruby. This is when she noticed his wounds. He had scratches up and down his arms, across his chest and a really bad one across his forehead. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?" She took another step towards him.

"I SAID DON'T!" His face was contorted.

Ruby wasn't going to take it anymore. He was hurt and needed to explain himself. "No. Apollo. Tell me what happened. And what don't you want me to see?"

"No wait, Ruby please don't." The girl from underneath him swiped his legs from underneath him. Just as quickly as she did, she rammed her elbow into his stomach.

Ruby dashed forward and immediately took a swing at her. The girl jumped back, cloaked in darkness.

Ruby stood over Apollo, never taking her eyes off the girl. He was clutching his stomach, heaving, trying to return air into his lungs. Ruby didn't know what she was staring at. She was hidden in the shadows, the only thing that stood out were her eyes.

Her eyes...were like Grimm.

 _That's not possible. She looks human._ The girl growled, and started to circle them on all fours. Ruby felt pressure on one of her boots. She glanced down at him. There was blood coming from the back of his head and a pool of it next to his mouth, his hand was squeezing her ankle. He attempted to speak, but ended up coughing up more blood. Ruby crouched, still incredibly aware of the pair of eyes that were on them.

"Aaahhh. I always adored the color red." The girl stood up straight, eyes never wavering. "You two have such nice colors, red hair, red eyes…" she giggled and licked her lips, "red blood."

Ruby wasn't sure if she wanted to make a comment. What she was seeing didn't make any sense. Grimm didn't have as human as a form as this one. Ruby clutched Crescent Rose as if it were the only thing that made sense. "What are you?" Ruby asked, standing back up again.

"What do you mean? I'm Grimm." The girl came at Ruby so fast, she barely had enough time to use her scythe as a shield as the girl used both feet to launch Ruby out of the alley. Ruby slid backwards on her feet, lifting her head as soon as she came to a stop.

"Hey! You forgot your friend!" Ruby managed to catch Apollo before his body was able to hit anything else. And by catch, she used her body to cushion his fall.

"I'm starting to not like her." Apollo said through gritted teeth. Ruby helped him off her and had to drag his body a little so that it could lean on the building. "Don't move okay? Jaune will be here soon."

"Ruby, listen. It's not her okay?" Ruby furrowed her brows. "What do you mean?"

They turned their heads toward the laughter. Just as Ruby was going to get up, Apollo pulled her down by her wrist. "It's _not_ her."

"You know, you're going to have to do better than saying just that." Ruby took off her cape, and put it under his head. "Don't lose that okay?" Hearing the laughter get closer, Ruby stood up and took her stand in front of Apollo, Crescent Rose locked and loaded. There was no way she was going to let her get off easy for causing so much damage.

"Don't you think you should take him to the hospital?" She said, walking out of the shadows and into the light where Ruby was finally able have a good look at the girl.

She felt like she couldn't breathe.

She wanted to throw up.

She felt her knees shaking.

 _No no no no, this can't happen! It's not. It's not!_ Ruby looked back at Apollo, tears flowing down her face.

How was this possible? If it's not her then what is it?

But she couldn't get a word out. The only thing she could do was shake her head.

Apollo looked at her with sorrow in his eyes. "Its. Not. Her."

"If it's not her, then why is she standing in front of me!?" Ruby screamed out.

 _I know it's not her. I know it._ But how could you deny something that's right in your face?

The girl's body shook, from the pleasure of despair. "C'mon, I'm not so bad looking for you to get sad about. But. You're not talking about me are you?" She smiled again, a chilling smile that froze Ruby to the spot. "Oh no, you're talking about this body right? The one who was here first?"

"Shut up."

The girl cocked her head. "It took forever you know. To obtain this body. First she fought me."

"Shut up!"

"But a person can only fight for so long. Eventually it was just me, kicking her sorry ass black and blue."

"SHUT UP!"

"Even after she had no fight left. I wouldn't let her leave. So whenever I had the chance, I would beat, cut, and torture her until one day, she disappeared."

Ruby attacked her, not thinking, not wasting another breath.

Ruby sent her crashing into a building. "I said to shut up."

From the rubble, the girl got up, smiling, dusting off her shoulder. "That you did."

The girl shot forward, pushing Ruby back by her strength. She jumped and ducked away from Ruby's fast spinning scythe. The girl was smiling the whole time, the blood on her face making her eyes look more crazed. Ruby was faltering. Each punch she received was like a shove from a wrecking ball. Not to mention the girl she was fighting with was her friend. _Not my friend? I know it's not her but._ Memories kept popping up with each hit.

Ruby narrowly dodged a punch to her face.

 _The time Zwei left a line of slobber on her face._

A hit to Crescent Rose.

 _Ruby wiping her tears as she tried to help Ruby fix her hair from the haircut she tried to give herself._

Jumping back to dodge a swipe to her feet.

 _Trying on ridiculous hats at a store. _

Ruby grunted when the girl landed a blow to her chest, skidding Ruby across the asphalt.

 _The time their family had a picnic in the park._

Ruby used Crescent Rose as support to haul herself up. She aimed at the girl as she ran towards Ruby. Ruby let shot after shot fly as the girl danced around each bullet, seeming to enjoy herself. Ruby discarded the empty clip and had just reloaded a lightning dust one when she got a kick square on her back.

 _The time she found Ruby right outside of town right after having a big fight with each other._

It was hard to breathe. She looked up, seeing her scythe just out of reach. But before she could attempt to grab it, she got pulled up by her hair, not wanting to give her the satisfaction, Ruby bit back a scream. "You're pretty fun you know that?" The girl said, bringing Ruby's face to hers.

Ruby glared at those hollow flames. "But I think I know how to make this more enjoyable." Ruby's face was slammed into the road.

 _The face she made when she told Ruby to go find help._

The girl laughed. "How'd that one feel? Pretty good right? Have another!" As she was pulling Ruby's head up for another round, Ruby pushed along with her hand, causing her to lose her grip as Ruby's head collided with her face.

 _The scarf, lying in a pool of blood. _

The girl stepped back, covering her face with both hands, cursing her way to Mars and back. Ruby didn't hesitate. She roundhouse kicked the girl as hard as she could.

 _The tombstone, covered in flowers. _

Before the girl could stand back up, Ruby was standing over her, scythe in hand.

"You're not Bhu."

Ruby said before shooting the Grimm that lied before her.


End file.
